DETAILED ACTION
Notice of Pre-AIA or AIA Status
The present application, filed on or after March 16, 2013, is being examined under the first inventor to file provisions of the AIA .
In the event the determination of the status of the application as subject to AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103 (or as subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 102 and 103) is incorrect, any correction of the statutory basis (i.e., changing from AIA to pre-AIA ) for the rejection will not be considered a new ground of rejection if the prior art relied upon, and the rationale supporting the rejection, would be the same under either status.
Response to Arguments
With respect to the Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 112, the applicant states “A claim rejection on the ground of indefiniteness is only appropriate if, after applying the broadest reasonable interpretation to the allegedly offending claim terminology, the metes and bounds of the claimed invention are not clear because the claim contains words or phrases whose meaning is unclear.1 The broadest reasonable interpretation is "an interpretation that corresponds with what and how the inventor describes his invention in the specification, i.e., an interpretation that is 'consistent with the specification.”
The examiner respectfully disagrees with the applicant. Although the claims are interpreted in light of the specification, limitations from the specification are not read into the claims. See In re Van Geuns, 988 F.2d 1181, 26 USPQ2d 1057 (Fed. Cir. 1993).
With respect to the Claim Rejections under 35 U.S.C. § 102, the applicant states “In Schmidt, on the other hand, the individual pressure vessels (20) do not have their own pump turbines. Instead, Schmidt discloses a centralized system where multiple pressure vessels (20) are connected via a "main passage" (42) to a "common generator" and a "common pump".
The examiner respectfully disagrees with the applicant. The claim recites “at least one pressure vessel”. Therefore, the centralized common generator and a common pump is regarded to the at least one pressure vessel.
Claim Objections
Claim 25 should recite “The wherein the at least one other pressure vessel module is in a modular arrangement with one another and independent operation from one another, each of the at least one other pressure vessel module
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 112
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112(b):
(b) CONCLUSION.—The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor regards as the invention.
The following is a quotation of 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph:
The specification shall conclude with one or more claims particularly pointing out and distinctly claiming the subject matter which the applicant regards as his invention.
Claim 13 is rejected under 35 U.S.C. 112(b) or 35 U.S.C. 112 (pre-AIA ), second paragraph, as being indefinite for failing to particularly point out and distinctly claim the subject matter which the inventor or a joint inventor (or for applications subject to pre-AIA 35 U.S.C. 112, the applicant), regards as the invention.
Regarding Claim 13, the applicant recites “the underwater pumped storage power plant reservoir can be operated in such a way that via the turbine and the pump, or via the pump turbine, electrical energy is generated when water is let in from the flooded ground depression into the pressure vessel modules and electrical energy is stored used when water is let out from the pressure vessel modules into the flooded ground depression for energy storage”. Electrical energy is not generated by a pump and turbine alone. Electrical energy is generated by generator moved by turbines. Moreover, electrical energy is stored by batteries, the applicant does not recite how the electrical energy is “stored”. Therefore, the claim in vague and indefinite.
Claim Rejections - 35 USC § 102
The following is a quotation of the appropriate paragraphs of 35 U.S.C. 102 that form the basis for the rejections under this section made in this Office action:
A person shall be entitled to a patent unless –
(a)(1) the claimed invention was patented, described in a printed publication, or in public use, on sale, or otherwise available to the public before the effective filing date of the claimed invention.
Claims 15-16 are rejected under 35 U.S.C. 102(a)(1) as being anticipated by Schmidt (US 2015/0361948).
Regarding Claim 15, Schmidt discloses a pressure vessel module [6], for modular arrangement with at least one other pressure vessel module [6] and independent operation therefrom, in a dry ground depression and/or for sinking in an already flooded ground depression [8] (FIG. 8), comprising:
an outer wall [“outer wall” on each element 6 on the right/left side] having at least one flow opening for letting in and/or letting out water [by 43 – In its interior, the base body 40 has side passages 43 for connecting the accumulator 20 (see FIG. 9) to a main passage 42, which in turn is connected to the turbine 16 as well as the pump 36 in the embodiment shown], such that the pressure vessel module can be filled with water independently of the at least one other pressure vessel module [by 26 – A shutoff valve 26 is built into each side passage 43 so that the pressure vessels 20 installed at each of the connection couplings 23] and/or pumped empty independently of the at least one other pressure vessel module when the ground depression is flooded with water [by 26 – The shutoff valves 26 in the side passages 43 of the base body 40 also make it possible to use a universal base part in which individual connection couplings 23 remain unused in the event that only a smaller accumulator volume is required, so that the base bodies can be produced in large-scale production and can nevertheless be adapted to the applicable application area] (FIG. 8, ¶ [0089]),
wherein the pressure vessel module [6] is provided with its own turbine [16] and pump [36] (FIG. 8) OR.
Regarding Claim 16, Schmidt discloses the pressure vessel module according to claim 15 [see rejected Claim 15 above], wherein the pressure vessel module is shaped in such a way that the outer wall of the pressure vessel module can be arranged face-to-face adjacent, to one or more further identically formed pressure vessel modules (as shown in FIG. 8).
Allowable Subject Matter
Claims 1-12 & 14 allowed.
Claims 17-24 are objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Claim 25 is objected to as being dependent upon a rejected base claim, but would be allowable if rewritten in independent form including all of the limitations of the base claim and any intervening claims.
Conclusion
THIS ACTION IS MADE FINAL. Applicant is reminded of the extension of time policy as set forth in 37 CFR 1.136(a).
A shortened statutory period for reply to this final action is set to expire THREE MONTHS from the mailing date of this action. In the event a first reply is filed within TWO MONTHS of the mailing date of this final action and the advisory action is not mailed until after the end of the THREE-MONTH shortened statutory period, then the shortened statutory period will expire on the date the advisory action is mailed, and any nonprovisional extension fee (37 CFR 1.17(a)) pursuant to 37 CFR 1.136(a) will be calculated from the mailing date of the advisory action. In no event, however, will the statutory period for reply expire later than SIX MONTHS from the mailing date of this final action.
Any inquiry concerning this communication or earlier communications from the examiner should be directed to JOSEPH ORTEGA whose telephone number is (469)295-9083. The examiner can normally be reached M-F 8 AM - 5 PM.
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/JOSEPH ORTEGA/Primary Examiner, Art Unit 2834